Wednesday, November 2, 2016

Saudi advisory council rejects study of women driving

Now AFP has come out with a more nuanced report on what happened in the Shoura Council, it was a proposal to make a study about women driving. Apparently this proposal was rejected, seemingly over the proper process.... A link to the story is here, and the text is below, taken from the UK's Daily Mail of November 2, 2016.

Saudi Arabia's Shura Council, which
advises the cabinet, has turned down a proposal to study the issue of
women's driving, a Shura member told AFP on Wednesday.The kingdom has some of the world's tightest restrictions on women, and is the only country where they are not allowed to drive.At
a meeting this week, a male member of the appointed council suggested
the study, said another member who declined to be named.He said the enquiry would have looked at: "What are the difficulties if they start? What is required to allow them to drive?"

But the proposal failed to get the required 50 percent plus one support among the council's 150 members, who include 30 women.The council can make non-binding recommendations to the government but it has no legislative powers.Activists say women's driving is not technically illegal but that the ban is linked to tradition and custom.A slow expansion of women's rights began under the late king Abdullah, who named them to the Shura Council in 2013.He
also announced that women could for the first time vote and run in
municipal elections. At least 20 women were elected for the 2,106
contested council seats last December.Some activists have challenged the driving ban by getting behind the wheel and posting images of themselves online.Other
Saudi women, however, believe change cannot be forced -- a message the
kingdom's powerful Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, 31, gave in
April when he unveiled the Vision 2030 plan for economic diversification
and social change."So far
the society is not persuaded -- and it has negative influence -- but we
stress that it is up to the Saudi society," he said, commenting on
whether women should drive.The
Vision and its associated National Transformation Programme target an
increase in the proportion of female workforce participation from 23 to
28 percent by 2020.

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About Me

I'm a freelance writer based in Maine. I lived in Saudi Arabia for many years. I studied Arabic in college eons ago and married my college sweetheart, a fellow Arabic student. My first novel, A CARAVAN OF BRIDES, is set in Saudi Arabia. I'm working on my second novel while writing feature stories about the Middle East. I am also the co-founder and Administrative Director of the Arabic Music Retreat.